Thornton Wilder's The Skin of our Teeth

"Ladies and gentlemen, I‘m not going to play this particular scene tonight." - SabinaThornton Wilder‘s The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) telescopes an audacious stretch of western history and mythology into a family drama, showing how the course of human events operates like theatre itself: constantly mutable, vanishing and beginning again.Kyle Gillette explores Wilder‘s extraordinary play in three parts. Part I unpacks the play‘s singular yet deeply interconnected place in theatre history, comparing its metatheatrics to those of Stein, Pirandello and Brecht, and finding its anticipation of American fantasias in the works of Vogel and Kushner. Part II turns to the play‘s many historic and mythic sources, and examines its concentration of western progress and power into the model of a white, American upper-middle-class nuclear family. Part III takes a longer view, tangling with the play‘s philosophical stakes.Gillette magnifies the play‘s ideas and connections, teasing out historical, theoretical and philosophical questions on behalf of readers, scholars and audience members alike.

The Essentials of Photoshop for Creative ProfessionalsThere are plenty of books on Photoshop for photographers; for everyone else, there‘s Precision Photoshop: Creating Powerful Visual Effects. In clear, conversational language using extensive images and screenshots, this book gives you in-depth guidance on learning how to use Photoshop. The author shares her practical knowledge and insider tips gleaned from years working on visual effects in the entertainment business.Requiring no prior experience, the book first offers a step-by-step beginner‘s tutorial on the main features of Photoshop, with the tutorial files available on the book‘s CRC Press web page. It next shows you how to manage various assets, such as text, 3D, or HDRI files, and provides solutions to the most common questions asked by new Photoshop users. The author explains how to work with camera raw files and describes how to unlock your artistic potential through Photoshop‘s powerful tools. She also covers more advanced tutorials involving higher concepts and specific source images, such as creating panoramas, high-contrast images, 3D effects, and motion.Illustrating key techniques with examples of production-quality work, this book delves deep into aspects most important to creative professionals. Whether you‘re a beginner or more experienced user, you will find precise instruction on critical elements of the workflow.